t

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6057
REV: MAY 24, 2021

Cola Wars Continue: Coca-Cola

Current Company Overview1
The Coca-Cola Company, the largest non-
alcoholic beverage company and distributor in the
world, sells its line of some 200 beverage brands in
more than 200 countries. Positioned as a “total
rP
consumption. Coca-Cola launched low-sugar Fuze
Tea, added new flavors to its Dasani Sparkling
water portfolio, and acquired Topo Chico, a Mexican
sparkling water brand. An update of Diet Coke with
new flavor options spurred growth in this product
segment for the first time in eight years. From 2018

yo
beverage” company, Coca-Cola markets soft drinks,
waters, juice drinks, energy drinks, teas, and coffees,
offering globally recognized brands like Coca-Cola,
Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Minute Maid, Powerade,
Dasani, and Honest Tea.
Coca-Cola appointed James Quincey as president
and COO in 2015, and he became CEO in 2017. As
op
CEO, Quincey began a series of cost-cutting
measures, announcing 1,200 layoffs at Coke
headquarters. He also aimed to revitalize the
company through a “Beverages for Life” strategy, an
initiative to offer consumers a more diverse range of
beverages tailored to their life-stage and consumer
drinking trends. By acquiring new brands and
tC
to 2020, the company continued its push into
contemporary flavors and new categories like
energy drinks and coffee. Concurrently, Coca-Cola
accelerated divestments of bottling and distribution
operations to focus on manufacturing concentrate, a
more profitable operation than bottling.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
disproportionately impacted Coca-Cola compared to
Pepsi and other beverage competitors. Coca-Cola’s
heavy market share in the away-from-home
beverage category, which declined 25% during the
pandemic, exposed the company to larger revenue
losses as consumers stayed away from restaurants
and events. Coca-Cola responded to the crisis by

investing in start-ups, Quincey hoped to make the
company less dependent on soda sales and its cash-
cow Coke brand.
Increasingly perceived by consumers as a sugar-
laden, unhealthy beverage, soft drinks were
experiencing a decline in demand as consumers
turned to sparkling waters, energy drinks, and other
No
slashing its workforce, offering buyouts to 4,000
employees, and streamlining operations in a
company reorganization that whittled 17 business
units down to nine. Intent on focusing on higher-
growth products, the company also discontinued
low-performing brands, eliminating nearly half of its
product portfolio. Although Coca-Cola’s

enhanced beverages. With soda at 70% of Coca- international footprint makes it vulnerable to global
Cola’s global beverage volume in 2017, the company lockdown conditions, revenues rebounded in Q1
quickly pivoted to promote and leverage its lower- 2021 and CEO Quincey was optimistic that the
sugar, healthier offerings. The company renamed company is on the road to recovery.
Coke Zero to Coke Zero Sugar, changing the
formula and packaging, which drove double-digit
growth for the brand in 2018’s first quarter.
Expansion of the company’s other non-soda
beverages helped compensate for the decline in soda
Do

This Case Flash Forward presents a summary of key events for Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010, HBS No. 711-462, published in 2010 and revised in 2011,
and Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006, HBS No. 706-447, published in 2006 and revised in 2009. This Case Flash Forward was prepared to contribute to
class discussion rather than to illustrate the effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.

Copyright © 2021 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced,
posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu. The information in this Case Flash Forward was
curated from published sources by Baker Library at Harvard Business School.

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Alvaro Salas-Carvajal, ULACIT - Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnologia until Jul 2022. Copying or posting is an
infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 6057 Cola Wars Continue: Coca-Cola

Significant Developments Simply Oat; 20 Company rolls out Coca-Cola Coffee

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in the US; 21 Coca-Cola begins workforce reductions

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2017 James Quincey assumes role as CEO and in Atlanta cutting some 800 jobs as part of a global
establishes two new positions—Chief Growth reorganization initiative expected to eliminate 2,200
Officer and Chief Innovation Officer—with intent to positions worldwide. 22
enable faster growth and responsiveness; 2 Coca-
Cola considers cutting 1,200 positions in plan to save
Key Readings
$800 million through 2019; 3 Company rolls out new

version of Coke Zero with a new formula, a new
look for cans, and a new name: Coca-Cola Zero
Sugar; 4 Company buys Mexican sparkling water
brand Topo Chico for $220 million. 5
2018 Coca-Cola introduces Chu-Hi, a low-alcohol
beverage using a watered-down version of shōchū,
to its Japanese market; 6 Company says Diet Coke
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Company website and financial reports
What Is Coke CEO’s Solution for Lost Fizz? More
Soda (The Wall Street Journal, Mar 18, 2015)**
The Decline of ‘Big Soda’ (The New York Times, Oct
2, 2015)**
Coke Replaces ‘Open Happiness’ with ‘Taste the
Feeling’ in Major Strategic Shift (Advertising Age,

yo
segment in US grows for first time in eight years
Jan 19, 2016)**
after introducing new flavors, such as mango and
ginger lime, and the relaunch of Coca-Cola Zero Coke at a Crossroads with New CEO in Charge
Sugar. 7 (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Apr 28, 2017)**
2019 Coca-Cola expands its coffee beverage line, Coca-Cola’s Game Plan: Reformulate and Expand
plans to debut Coca-Cola Coffee in 25 new foreign (The Wall Street Journal, Feb 19, 2018)**
markets; 8 Company introduces Orange Vanilla No More ‘Holy Grails’: Why Coca-Cola Is No
Coke, its first new flavor in over a decade; 9 Longer Tied to Its Old Brand Rules
op
Company ventures into Coca-Cola branded energy (MarketingWeek, Jan 17, 2019)
drinks in the UK with the launch of Coca-Cola Bloomberg Big Decisions with Coca Cola CEO James
Energy, offered with and without sugar; 10 Coca-Cola Quincey (Bloomberg Big Decisions/YouTube, video,
appoints Manolo Arroyo as global CMO after Dec 24, 2020)
eliminating the position two years before;11 ** Publisher may require subscription or registration.
Company acquires Costa Coffee, a global coffee
tC

brand offered in 30 countries. 12 Current Executives

2020 Coca-Cola offers buyouts to 4,000
employees in the US and Canada in an effort to Name Since Current Position
contain costs amid decreased demand caused by the James Quincey 2017 CEO; Chairman
COVID-19 pandemic; 13 Company announces John Murphy 2019 Executive VP; CFO
organizational restructuring, consolidates 17 Brian Smith 2019 President; COO
business units into nine and focuses efforts on Manuel Arroyo 2020 Global CMO
No

products with greatest growth opportunities; 14 Lisa Chang 2019 Global Chief People Officer
Coca-Cola discontinues smoothie brand Odwalla, Senior VP; Chief Technical
Nancy Quan 2019
and Innovation Officer
considers dropping additional stagnant, “zombie”
Senior VP; Chief Platform
brands;15 Coca-Cola announces intention to sell Barry Simpson 2020
Officer
Australian bottler, the latest divestment of company-
owned bottling operations; 16 Company intends to
eliminate 200 underperforming brands, half of its
beverages portfolio; 17 Coca-Cola joins boycott of
hate, violence, and inappropriate content on social
Do

media, pausing ads for at least 30 days;18 Coca-Cola

breaks into alcoholic beverages, partners with
Molson Coors in US launch of Topo Chico Hard
Seltzer after test launch in Latin America. 19
2021 Coca-Cola piggybacks on surging growth in
oat milk products and launches new oat milk,

2
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infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 6057 Cola Wars Continue: Coca-Cola

Company Financials

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Assets (US$ millions)

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(FY end 12/31)* Total Assets 87,296
Total Revenue (US$ millions) Current Market Value
04/30/2021 232,710
2016 41,863
2017 35,410
Employees

rP
2018 34,300
2019 37,266 2016 100,300
2020 33,014 2017 61,800
1-year growth -11.4% 2018 62,200
5-year growth -5.7% 2019 86,200
2020 80,300

yo
Net Income (US$ millions) 1-year growth -6.8%

2016 6,527 5-year growth -34.8%

*All numbers and dates align with the company’s fiscal year
2017 1,248 conventions.
2018 6,434 Source: Company Website, EDGAR Company Filings, U.S.
Securities & Exchange Commission
2019 8,920
2020 7,747
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1-year growth -13.2%
5-year growth 1.1%

Coca-Cola Company vs. S&P 500 Composite Index

Monthly close, April 2016 - April 2021
rebased to 100
tC

250

200

150
No

100

50
Do

0
Dec-16

Dec-17

Dec-18

Dec-19

Dec-20
Apr-16

Apr-17

Apr-18

Apr-19

Apr-20

Apr-21
Jun-16

Feb-17

Jun-17

Feb-18

Jun-18
Aug-16

Feb-19

Jun-19
Oct-16

Jun-20
Aug-17

Feb-20
Oct-17

Aug-18

Feb-21
Oct-18

Aug-19
Oct-19

Aug-20
Oct-20

Source: Bloomberg Coca-Cola S&P 500 Composite

3
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infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 6057
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yo
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op
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tC
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value-after-co-ordinated-launch-ceo-james-
quincey_id125735.aspx, accessed May 2021;
No
Mike Esterl, “Coke CEO Gets a Deputy, and Possible
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quincey-president-and-chief-operating-officer-1439468736,
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Do
CEO in charge,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April
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crossroads-with-new-ceo-
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sparkling water portfolio,” Atlanta Business Chronicle,
March 27, 2018,
4
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infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Cola Wars Continue: Coca-Cola
t
os
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/03/27
/coca-cola-adds-more-flavor-to-its-sparkling-water.html,
accessed May 2021;
E.J. Schultz, “Coke Replaces 'Open Happiness' with
'Tastes the Feeling' in Major Strategic Shift,” Advertising
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rP
strategy/coke-debuts-taste-feeling-campaign-strategic-
shift/302184, accessed May 2021;
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Reformulate and Expand,” The New York Times,
February 19, 2018, http;s://www.wsj.com/articles/coca-
colas-game-plan-reformulate-and-expand-1519096320,
accessed May 2021
Jill Cowan, “Coca-Cola buys Texas cult favorite
sparkling water brand Topo Chico for $220 million,”
Dallas News, October 2, 2017,
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/business/2017/
10/02/breaking-coca-cola-buy-texas-cult-favorite-
sparkling-water-brand-topo-chico, accessed May 2021;
Anastaciah Ondieki, “Diet Coke re-brand a positive for
Coca-Cola company,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May
1, 2018,
https://www.myajc.com/business/economy/diet-coke-
brand-positive-for-coca-cola-
company/jrAc1vOLtRU2Wpb9NK3r8J/, accessed May
2021;
Danielle Wiener-Bronner, “Coke says global
slowdown will be a drag on 2019. Stock has worst day in
10 years,” CNN, February 14, 2019,
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/investing/coca-cola-
worst-day-decade/index.html, accessed May 2021;
Amelia Lucas, “Coca-Cola says strong sales of Coke
Zero Sugar are driving revenue growth,” CNBC, October
18, 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/18/coca-cola-
ko-earnings-q3-2019.html, accessed May 2021;
Danielle Wiener-Bronner, “Coca-Cola latches onto
America’s flavored seltzer obsession with sparkling
Smartwater,” CNN, March 19, 2019,
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/19/business/smartwate
r-sparkling-flavors/index.html, accessed May 2021;
Molly Fleming, “No more ‘holy grails’: Why Coca-
Cola is no longer tied to its old brand rules,”
MarketingWeek, January 17, 2019,
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tied-brand-rules/, accessed May 2021;
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Global Reorganization,” CFO, August 28, 2020,
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cut-workforce-in-global-reorganization/, accessed May
2021;
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coronavirus challenge?,” BeverageDaily, April 27, 2020,
https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2020/04/27/H
ow-is-Coca-Cola-dealing-with-the-coronavirus-crisis#,
accessed May 2021;
 6057
Aaron Back, “Coca-Cola Sounds Alarm on Global
Covid-19 Cases,” The Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2021,
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on-global-covid-19-cases-11618843471, accessed May 2021;
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resurgence-of-covid-19-11612964286, accessed May 2021;
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Sales Rebound as Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Expands,” The
Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2019,
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yo
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Come Out of This Crisis,’” September 19, 2020,
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clear-strategy-for-how-we-want-to-come-out-of-this-crisis,
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op
model-again-1458639001, accessed May 2021;
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has to be about growth,’” Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
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2 Brad Avery.
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3 Russell Grantham, “Coke’s new CEO: ‘The next stage
has to be about growth.”
4 Russell Grantham, “Coke seeks to ease Zero fans’
concerns,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 28, 2017,
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5 Lucy Britner, “The Coca-Cola Co buys Top Chico
No
sparkling water brand,” just drinks, October 3, 2017,
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buys-topo-chico-sparkling-water-brand_id124175.aspx,
accessed May 2021.
6 Alex Scimecca, “These Are the Most Unusual
Products Coca-Cola Has Ever Released,” Fortune, March
7, 2018, http://fortune.com/2018/03/07/coca-cola-coke-
products/?iid=sr-link2, accessed May 2021.
7 “Diet Coke Grows for the First Time in 8 Years After
Makeover,” AP News, April 24, 2018,
Do
https://apnews.com/article/1d77750ddc57c9853e78bc978
a45d4cd, accessed May 2021.
8 Amelia Lucas, “Coca-Cola is making a big push into
coffee,” CNBC, April 23, 2019,
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making-a-big-push-into-coffee.html, accessed May 2021.
9 Kate Taylor, “Coca-Cola is debuting its first new
flavor across America in more than a decade,” Business
Insider, February 8, 2019,
5
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Alvaro Salas-Carvajal, ULACIT - Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnologia until Jul 2022. Copying or posting is an
infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Cola Wars Continue: Coca-Cola
t
os
https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-new-
orange-vanilla-flavor-2019-2, accessed May 2019.
10 Molly Fleming, “Coca-Cola launches first energy
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launches-first-energy-drink-under-the-coke-brand/,
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11 E.J. Schultz, “Coca-Cola Restores Global CMO Role
after Dropping It Two Years Ago,” AdAge, December 16,
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ago/2222656, accessed May 2021.
12 “The Coca-Cola Company Completes Acquisition of
Costa from Whitbread PLC,” businesswire, January 3,
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https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201901030
05331/en/The-Coca-Cola-Company-Completes-
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2021.
13 Alicia Wallace, “Coke will offer buyouts to 4,000
workers in the US and Canada,” CNN, August 28, 2020,
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/28/business/coke-
layoffs-restructuring/index.html, accessed May 2021.
14 Mary Ellen Shoup, “Coca-Cola restructures global
operations resulting in ‘voluntary and involuntary
reductions in employees’,” FOODnavigator-usa.com,
August 28, 2020, https://www.foodnavigator-
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global-operations-resulting-in-voluntary-and-involuntary-
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15 Alicia Wallace, “Coke says it will kill more 'zombie'
brands, weeks after dropping Odwalla,” CNN, July 21,
2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/business/coke-
zombie-brands-coronavirus/index.html, accessed May
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16 Mike Cherney, “Coca-Cola Backs Away From
Bottling in Australia as Deal Bubbles to Sell Stake,” The
Wall Street Journal, October 26, 2020,
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11603696903, accessed May 2021.
17 Danielle Wiener-Bronner, “Coke is canceling 200
drink brands,” CNN, October 22, 2020,
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/22/business/coke-zico-
tab/index.html, accessed May 2021.
18 Nick Statt, “Coca-Cola joins Facebook boycott with a
pause on all social media advertising starting July 1st,” The
Verge, June 27, 2020,
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cola-pause-ads-facebook-social-platforms-july-boycott,
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19 Chris Furnari, “Boozy Topo Chico Is Coming, But
Coke’s Alcohol Strategy Remains A Secret,” Forbes, July
31, 2020,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisfurnari/2020/07/31
 6057 Cola Wars Continue: Coca-Cola

t
os
/boozy-topo-chico-is-coming-but-cokes-alcohol-strategy-
still-a-secret/?sh=6770599375b1, accessed May 2021.
20 Sally Ho, “Coca-Cola Launches ‘Simply Oat’ As Oat

Milk Records Triple-Digit Sales Growth,” Green Queen,

April 30, 2021,
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/cocacola-launches-

rP
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21 Michael King, “Coke introduces ‘Coca-Cola with

Coffee’ in U.S.,” 11ALIVE, January 26, 2021,

https://www.11alive.com/article/money/consumer/cok
e-introduces-coca-cola-with-coffee-in-united-states/85-
7c0a4c6a-fb0b-41dc-a399-2f69695534ba, accessed May
2021.
22 Chris Fuhrmeister, “Here are the 800-plus Atlanta

yo
jobs Coca-Cola is eliminating,” Atlanta Business
Chronicle, January 7, 2021,
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/01/07
/coca-cola-layoffs-reorganization.html, accessed May
2021.
op
tC
No
Do

6
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Alvaro Salas-Carvajal, ULACIT - Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnologia until Jul 2022. Copying or posting is an
infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860